ABSTRACT
Emotional disorders cause young people and their families considerable distress. If left untreated, these disorders entail high social and personal costs that extend into adulthood. As summarized by Carr, research on the etiology of depression is converging in support of a diathesis-stress model. In this model, genetic factors render children and adolescents vulnerable to depression, and when this interacts with environmental factors, mood disorders can result. Family environments with parental psychopathology, conflict, stressful divorce, domestic violence, and child maltreatment are significant sources of environmental stress, as are more subtle elements such as lack of parental attunement and expressions of affect and support. J. R Asarnow, L. H Jaycox, and M. C Thompson have presented evidence of a bidirectional model in which parental depression and criticism, dysfunctional family interactional patterns, and family stress contribute to childhood depression, which in turn increases family stress and dysfunction. Time-limited systems integrative family therapy was developed within the systemic perspective of family therapy.
